The Scrolls Controversy SIR, —You are to be commended for publishing
the other point of view, from Mr. David Ellis, who by reason of his Hebrew scholarship is well fitted to reply to Mr. John Allegro. Mr. Ellis is not oge of those so despised by Mr. Allegro for not having read for themselves the Old Testament in the original.
Personally I can claim no special qualifications in these matters, but my training had to do. with factual evidence. I have read Mr. Allegro's adum- brations and have heard him pontificating on the radio.. So far, I have been unable to discover that he can adduce a .single fact in support of his antipathy to Christianity though he has been given every encouragement to do so.
His article published in the Spectator of Decem- ber 3 is a piece of popular journalism. In so far as one can discover any coherent argument in it, he says:
(a) The Scrolls date from before the Christian era.
(b) They contain ideas later propagated by the New Testament writers.
(c) Therefore the other ideas and contents of the New Testament arc spurious.
Really, sir, this is not good enough. No judge or jury would listen for five minutes to such an argu- ment.
Nor does he help himself by abusing all other scholars by inferring that they either are unqualified to speak or are biased (as Christians) or that they have 'thrown in the sponge.' The fact is that such controversy as exists or has existed is totally irrele- vant to the supernatural claims of Christianity and Mr. Allegro has created an 'Aunt Sally' of his own journalistic imagining and has obviously had fun in demolishing her.
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